Dhoni’s Pakistan fan wants India to win

Melbourne: Like Sachin Tendulkar has Sudhir Kumar Gautam as a devoted fan, Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni has Mohammad Basheer. The only difference is that Gautam is an Indian but Basheer is a Pakistani living in Chicago.

Basheer sports a shirt with images of Dhoni embossed all over. Even his cap has Dhoni’s pictures, and he was here to watch India train at the Junction Oval ground on Friday. Right at the entrance the security guys stopped him, but some of the journalists pleaded with the security guys telling them that he follows Dhoni around the world. Fortunately for Basheer they let him in, and his goal was only to meet Dhoni. And as soon as Dhoni arrived, he smiled at Basheer, who right away started shouting slogans in support of Dhoni.

Speaking to Gulf News, Basheer said: “I am from Karachi but I live in Chicago. My wife Rafia is from Hyderabad, India. I love Dhoni, he is my hero.” He has the words ‘Dhoni I love U’ printed his shirt.

Basheer owns the Gharib Nawaz Restaurant in Chicago, but when big tournaments like the World Cup and Champions trophy takes place, he makes it a point to get to the venues and meet Dhoni, and also ensures that he loudly cheers in support of him at every venue.

“In the 2011 World Cup, I could not get any tickets for any of the matches, so Dhoni gave me a ticket. And once when I was hungry, he passed me a sandwich. He is a gem of a person. I have come to make sure he wins the World Cup. I am sure his new born baby will bring him luck,” said Basheer. When Dhoni came out to meet him and autographed his shirt, he hugged Dhoni and said: “Your daughter will bring you luck and you will return with the trophy.”

Every member of the Indian team knows Basheer. Virat Kohli too autographed his shirt and Rohit Sharma happily gifted him his sun glasses. “I did not want to trouble Dhoni this time, so I bought the tickets very early. I buy only the cheapest $20 (Dh73) tickets because that is where I can sit and shout at my loudest for my hero,” he said.

At the Melbourne Ground today (Saturday), former Indian captain Anil Kumble, who was inducted into ICC’s Hall of Fame, addressed the world media and recalled the day he received his first cap for India at Sharjah in 1990 during the AustralAsia Cup. Pointing to yours truly, Kumble told the media that I was present in 1990 when he made his debut, and it felt really good that a great cricketer like him remembered that I was the first to interview him then on his ambitions as a cricketer.

Kumble’s press conference was followed by the India-South Africa pre-match press meet, and the ICC had permitted journalists to ask the last three questions in the language of their country. When Virat Kohli was told that he could get questions in Hindi as well, he wanted to know whether there would be any in other Indian languages as well? South African skipper AB De Villiers answered in Afrikaans to some of the questions. After the press conference, a South African journalist was heard telling his Indian counter-part: “When Indian players answered in Hindi, it used to be exclusive information for you all. Now in Afrikaans it will be exclusive for us too.”